Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-05-06
BY MARION HAELAND .

Let il come late or early, we are never
ready for bot weather. 1t always leaps
out at rs like q panther from ambush;
dismays US as would tie onslaught of a
strong man armed. In elder days than
these, hOusemothers prepared children's
systems" for it by courses of medicine"
or the Squeersian potion of sulphur and
mOIasses administered for three mornings
'hand-runnlng, omitted for three, then
given again. All that was wanting from
the ultra realism Of the DOthebOys
morning scene in many d Christian home
stead was the wOOden.SpOOn, the tap on
the mead with the same, and the hual
wipe Of the dUCtress' 1ngerS on curly
pste.
We have learned better tGaH 20 unset
tie small stUmachs by drugs that pull
down what strength the winters crop Of
coughs and colds has left; appreciate In
part the truth that Nature, grateful for
help, is intOlerant Of coercion. 1t fol-
lows that fewer children sucCumb to the
enervation Of the cheated term" Pnysi-
clans kindly essay to divest the second
summer Of mysterious terIOrs as they
free dentitiOn of much that used TO be
charged upon it. As mothers, We ere
grateful for white light and clear atm0s-
pbere. 1t is well 30 know why baby droOps
and siCkens in the sultriness which
intensifi-S the discomfort of swollen
gums aBd burning head. l. is Just 70 at
tribute his illness less TO the coming
teeth than to certain intestinal changes
that coincide with dentitIOn. Let US be
accurate in definition and aCCusatiOn.
Yet-and what 8 care-laden yeti it is!
summer is q fateful season for the lit
,ltle ones.
. We spend the first three years of 8
Child's life in teaching him TO talk, the
next three in instruCting him when not to
talk. So in winter We deplore the ne
cessity Of impTisoning baby in a stuffy,
artihcialy heated house. When the
warm months shall allow him to
live out Of doors he WILL we predict,
eat and sleep better; shake off all
maladies incident to American TaWness
and cold. By the middle of June we
dread the sun as we did the frost; COM
pretending why the piOus Jingle couples
"Chilling winds and poisonous breath" as
equal foes to mOrtalS' veal. 1t may be
intestinal change and not teethiDg that
brings the shadow TO our Threshold
signs the anxious mother. 1t falls as
daTkly and as surely as when we believe
the te6thiug of the second summer did it
all. The difference is in terms, not re-
suits. The man who knows that the
gltning, not the thunder, kills would
seem to practical mind to be no better of
than he VINO associates sound and danger.
Should the fiery arrow strike, the scientist
is killed IS surely as the ignOramUs. Yet,
2 study Of comparative statistics OF cas-
ualties wouid show that lightning rods,
ludiCiOUsly applied, divert the aim Of the
deadly artillery.
At this season, if ever, the mother must
resist the disposition TO fatalism. RecOg-
uiZing, like brave, sensible woman, that
summer is iraught with peculiar perils,
let her aCquaint herself with the nature Of
them and station her guards.
To begin with the most Obvious Of these
dangers: Look wisely and seasOnably to
beby's clothing. Make hanges-aotsbly
in h8nnels-CRutiOusly A wooden garment
covering the chest and abdomen should be
worn next the skin all summer long, at
lesst until the child has completed his
second yea. 1t need not be neavy or
thick, Exchange that worn in winter for
one of moderate weight, and, as the heat
increases, this for one still thinner. 1T
must be Of wool and long enough to pro-
tect the vulnerable parts indicated by day
and night. The day flannel must not be
worn st night, nor vice versa. Linen is
cooler, the Precipitation evapOrating from
it with dangerous rapidly. The wearer
runs about until weary, sits down to rest
or falls asleep in g draft, and IN five min
uteS Precipitation is checked. Baby is
comfortable, and the skin is conGest-
ing. Flannel parts slowly with animal
heat and moisture; the friction OF 1t on
the cuticle as the child moves about
Keeps the pores open.
,. Do not let the little one get eX
Cessively Oyerhtated-Or, should this Oc-
cur, manage in person., the process OF
cooling off. The nurse, moved to COM
passion by the streaming scarlet face,
will strip sway the infants outer cloth |
ing, give him ice-water to drink and set |
him by an open window. If left to his |
own devices, baby stretches himself lux |
uriously on he grass or sand, and pulls |
off shoes and stockings. If practicable, |
he perfects his work by wading in q |
puddle OF dipping his head in a water
pail. Many guiltless suicide has thus
gone the way of all the earth.
3. Temp night air with discretion.
The nursery should be ventilated but
baby must not sleep in the draugAt.
Screen his crib from wandering airs in the
hottest weather. The change that creeps
over the darkened half of the globe be-
tween midnight and dawn is the terror
that walketh by night, sTraln yourself
to awake between2 and 3 O'Clock q. m.
and testing the temperature of the
chamber with thermometer, sdlust the
covering over the plump limbs; see that
the gown is closed at the throat, the
flannel shirt or band drawn down over
.stkesf <>,lels. These are simple precau-
49, nut Indifference to lesser perifs
tnan those which they may avert has fill
ed home with mourning.
4. And outranking everything eIse-Do
not change the chsld's food SO long as his